


No More Crying for Me Anymore

by kanoitrace



Series: kh3 fix-it [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, kairi deserved better 2k19, post kh3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 22:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20015725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanoitrace/pseuds/kanoitrace
Summary: Axel and Kairi finally get a chance to talk after her return to Destiny Islands.





	No More Crying for Me Anymore

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't quite turn out how I'd initially planned for it to, in large part because it morphed from a single one shot into what will be a series of one shots. So I guess here is the beginning of my kh3 fix-it series.
> 
> Title is a lyric from the song Changing Skies by Juliet SImms/Automatic Loveletter.
> 
> As always, I have no beta, but did my best to edit.

In the weeks following Kairi’s return and Sora’s subsequent disappearance, no one is quite sure what to say or how to approach her or Riku, least of all Axel. It seems unfair that they should lose someone so important to them when everyone else seems to finally be reunited with their loved ones. Granted, even if he did know what to say or do, finding the two would be a whole other story. Riku and Kairi both manage to be infuriatingly good at disappearing, which is why when Axel finds Kairi sitting on the paopu tree, he can only assume it means she’s seeking out company.

He approaches slowly, quietly, as though trying not to spook a deer. “Hey, Princess,” he says by way of greeting.

Kairi turns to look at him, and it feels like something stabs him right through his heart. Her eyes are red and puffy, dark circles prominent, and her cheeks are more sallow than the last time he saw her.

She attempts a smile, opens her mouth and starts to say his name, but her voice catches on the first letter and she turns back around. He notices she isn’t even looking out to the ocean, but down at the sand and sparse beach grass instead, hands clutching at the tree so tightly her knuckles go white. Axel is struck with the urge to pry her hands up and check them for splinters, but instead leans against the tree beside her. He’s even careful to come up from behind and simply rest his arms on it - leaning his back against it beside her is Riku’s place, as far as his understanding goes.

They stay like that for a long while, watching the sun drift slowly across the sky. Axel doesn’t say anything when he hears soft, hitched sobs from Kairi - she will talk when she’s ready, he figures.

When her sobs finally quiet and the sniffles become less frequent, Kairi finally says, “This is all my fault.”

Axel looks at her through the corners of his eyes. “How do you figure?”

Her fingers tighten their grip somehow further, and he’s pretty sure he can hear at least one knuckle pop under the strain. “If I’d just trained harder, if I’d just been more useful, he wouldn’t have had to come and save me.”

Axel shakes his head. “You trained hard. We both did. Xehanort was tough, all the versions of him. Even Sora -” her breath hitches when he says the name but he continues on - “Riku, and the King struggled against him. At least you tried. And I’m sure he gained strength from knowing you were fighting beside him.”

He’s spent a lot of his own time thinking about what could have gone differently from his own end. He understands her frustration, the feeling as though she’d been useless. He hadn’t done much good in the fight himself.

She grows quiet again, and Axel hopes that maybe she’s contemplating what he’s said, that he’s done something to help. In her silence, he looks back out over the water.

Destiny Islands is a beautiful place, and it probably fits Kairi better than Radiant Garden ever could have. He can’t imagine her trapped between tall, white stone walls, and he can’t imagine her without Sora. He knows Riku figures into the equation for her somewhere, but he isn’t so sure of their relationship now. He hasn’t seen them interact much since after Kairi first arrived at Yen Sid’s tower. Then again, for all he knows, now they’ve been mourning their loss together.

Axel feels a little guilty wording it that way, even if only in thought. It doesn’t seem right to act like the kid is truly gone.

“Riku says he’s going to find him,” she says softly, and Axel could almost think he imagined she said it if not for the the odd expression she wears - somewhere between frustration and relief and fear and hope.

“Find him?” Axel can’t keep the surprise out of his voice, nor can he stop the bodily reaction that has him standing up straighter.

Kairi nods, staring out at the sea, her right hand having moved from the tree to rest over her chest.

“But…” Axel can’t think of a tactful way to say what it is he’s trying to say.

For the first time in weeks, Kairi smiles. It’s small and watery and ever-so-slightly rueful, but it also somehow has the strength to make Axel believe.

“Sora found me, didn’t he?” She looks directly at him as she says it, and Axel feels rooted to the spot on which he stands. “If anyone can find him, it’ll be Riku.” Her eyes leave his once more, and Axel finds he can move, can breathe, again.

She looks back out to the sea as she says, “I know he can.” 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kanoitrace) and to a far lesser extent [Tumblr](http://kanoitrace.tumblr.com/).


End file.
